Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Certainty of Christ's Words in a Passing World (Matthew 24:32-35)

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The Certainty of Christ's Words in a Passing World (Matthew 24:32-35) · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  Welcome to reformed thinking. You know, usually when we talk
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  about a medical diagnosis, there is this expectation of absolute
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  precision, right? Totally.
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  Think about the engineering behind an X-ray machine.
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  You fall off your bike, your arm hurts.
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  You go to the hospital and the technician takes a scan.
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  Yeah. The doctor pulls up that image,
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  points to a jagged white line on the screen and says there it is.
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  That is the fracture. It is a binary situation.
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  The bone is broken or it is not. The evidence is clean, visible
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  and indisputable. And honestly, that is
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  comforting. We like things to be visible.
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  We like our problems categorized in neat little boxes.
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  Oh for sure. But then you step into the world
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  of biblical prophecy and eschatology, I mean the study of
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  the end times, and suddenly that X-ray machine feels like it is
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  malfunctioning. That is a great way to put it.
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  We look toward the future and we are staring at a Lansing escape
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  that is incredibly murky for most people.
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  Today we are doing a deep dive into some incredibly dense
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  theological texts you sent us. Yeah, the listener provided some
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  really rigorous material for US. Spot on.
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  And these texts attempt to solve this puzzle using a very
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  specific passage, which is Matthew 24 verses 32 through 35.
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  Our mission for this deep dive is to unpack the absolute
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  certainty of Christ's words regarding the end of the age.
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  We are going to contrast the decaying nature of the physical
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  universe with the eternal authority of divine speech.
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  OK, let's unpack this. Human beings absolutely crave
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  control over the future. We see the psychological need
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  everywhere. You.
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  Know, we really do. People usually fall into two
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  ditches. On one side you have people who
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  obsess over date setting and conspiracy theories.
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  They try to decode the future like they're solving a Sunday
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  crossword puzzle. Right, trying to pin down the
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  month and the year. Yeah.
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  And on the other side, you have people who fall into total
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  apathy. They assume the end of the world
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  is too confusing to understand, so they just ignore it entirely.
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  You just. Throw their hands up.
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  The authors of the text you provided argue that this
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  specific passage in Matthew corrects both of those extremes.
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  It offers specific tangible signs without handing us a
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  specific calendar date. What's fascinating here is that
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  these 4 short verses function as a hinge in the grandest
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  prophetic discourse in the New Testament.
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  Yeah, they demand that the reader do something quite
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  startling. They have to learn a lesson from
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  a simple ordinary tree while simultaneously bowing to the
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  Lord of History. Wow.
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  The tension in that juxtaposition is striking.
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  Jesus takes the most mundane agricultural observation you
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  could possibly imagine and uses it to establish a cosmic
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  guarantee about the end of human history.
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  Before we get into the actual verses, we need to set the
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  scene. The documents you provided place
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  a massive amount of weight on the historical setup.
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  Yes, the context is everything. We are looking at a date of
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  approximately 8033. This is Passion Week.
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  We are just days before the crucifixion.
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  The tension must have been incredibly high.
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  Imagine the atmosphere. Jesus and his disciples are
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  sitting on the Mount of Olives. If you picture the geography of
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  the area, they are elevated looking westward.
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  Right, so they have a Clearview. They are staring out over the
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  Kidron Valley, and right across from them is the massive
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  gleaming structure of the Perodian Temple complex.
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  Which was the absolute center of their religious and cultural
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  universe. Completely.
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  I mean, the stones were enormous.
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  Some of them weighed hundreds of tons.
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  It looked invincible. The audience in this specific
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  moment is critical to understanding the text.
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  Jesus is not speaking to the multitudes here.
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  He is not giving a public sermon.
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  Right. He is speaking exclusively to
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  four Jewish disciples, Peter, James, John and Andrew.
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  Just those 4. The texts are highly strict on
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  this point. At this moment in the biblical
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  timeline, the church as an institution is yet an unrevealed
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  mystery. Ah, OK.
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  Jesus is answering a distinctly Jewish question about the
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  establishment of the Messianic Kingdom.
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  The entire setting is saturated with Jewish eschatological
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  expectation. You have zealot rebellion
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  brewing against the Roman occupation too.
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  The air is thick with tension. Absolutely, and you have ancient
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  prophecies hanging over the conversation, specifically texts
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  like Zechariah 14 verse 4. Which declares that the
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  Messiah's feet will stand on that very mountain, the Mount of
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  Olives, to bring final deliverance.
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  Spot on. I love that visual.
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  It is like sitting on a geological fault line.
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  You have these 4 disciples expecting an immediate political
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  earthquake. They want Rome overthrown.
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  Yeah, they want the Davidic throne re established right then
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  and there. They are looking at the temple,
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  thinking about earthly glory. But Jesus completely shatters
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  their paradigm. He really does.
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  He expands their vision to a global cosmic catastrophe.
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  He takes their localized 1st century political anxiety and
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  blows it up into a terrifying vision of the end of human
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  history as we know it. And that is precisely why the
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  theological frameworks mentioned of your research are so
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  critical, right? The sources argue that
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  understanding this specific Jewish historical context guards
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  against major theological errors.
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  For instance, the text spent a lot of time rebuking A framework
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  called amillennialism. OK, let.
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  US pause there for someone who might not have a degree in
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  theology, what is amillennialism and why do our sources have such
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  an issue with it? Well, think of it like reading a
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  recipe. If you have a recipe for baking
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  a cake, you gather physical flour, physical sugar, and
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  physical eggs. Makes sense?
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  And millennialism tends to read the prophetic promises made to
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  Israel like the promise of a physical Kingdom on earth.
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  More like a metaphor. So instead of literal flour and
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  sugar, they see spiritual concepts.
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  Precisely, they argue that the thousand year reign mentioned in
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  Revelation is not a literal future Kingdom, but a symbol for
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  the current church age. Interesting.
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  The authors of your texts argue that if you spiritualize is the
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  physical return and the physical Kingdom, you lose the grounded
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  reality of the prophecy. Jesus was sitting on a physical
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  mountain talking to literal Jewish men about a literal
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  physical temple being destroyed. So if you turn the promises into
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  metaphors, you strip the Gears of the actual text.
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  That is a good way to phrase it. The sources also directly
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  confront the prosperity gospel, that is, the idea that following
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  God guarantees temporal earthly riches and perfect health.
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  Right, which is a very popular idea today.
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  Obviously, if Jesus is predicting massive tribulation,
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  that totally undercuts the idea that believers are promised an
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  easy, wealthy life right now. It shatters it entirely.
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  The texts insist on maintaining what they call a dispensational
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  framework. Again, let us break that down.
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  What does that mean for the average listener?
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  A dispensational framework is like looking at a multi act
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  play. The director has different rules
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  and different focuses for different acts.
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  OK, I am tracking with you. The sources maintain there is a
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  clear distinction between God's program for national Israel and
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  his program for the church. Understanding that distinction
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  means recognizing that the events Jesus is describing in
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  Matthew 24 point forward toward Daniel's 70th week.
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  Right, which refers to the seven-year tribulation period.
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  That distinction changes how you read the entire chapter.
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  It prevents you from assuming every single promise or warning
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  applies directly to a modern believer sitting in a Pew today
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  in the exact same way it applied to those four men on the
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  mountain. That is a crucial point to make.
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  So we have the setting and the framework.
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  How does Matthew actually structure this?
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  Because the sequence of events leading up to verses 32 through
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  35 is incredibly intense. The architecture of the text is
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  highly deliberate. You have to look at chapter 23
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  first. Jesus pronounces the severe
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  blistering woes upon the scribes and Pharisees there.
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  He calls them hypocrites, blind guides and whitewashed tombs.
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  It is a devastating critique of the religious establishment.
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  He ends that chapter by looking at Jerusalem and declaring that
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  their house, meaning the Temple, is being left to them desolate.
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  Then you hit chapter 24. Jesus tells the disciples that
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  not one stone of the temple will be lift upon another.
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  That prompts their big question, When will these things be?
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  And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of
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  the age? Verses 15 through 31 detail what
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  the source is called the Great Tribulation.
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  Jesus speaks of the abomination of desolation standing in the
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  holy place. Which is a horrifying
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  desecration of the temple. He describes unparalleled
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  suffering, false prophets performing signs, and finally a
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  cosmic sign of the Son of Man appearing in the sky, coming on
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  the clouds with great glory. Man, that is intense.
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  After that terrifying description of the Tribulation,
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  verses 32 through 35 step in to act as the bridge.
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  They are the transition point of the entire discourse.
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  Because right after verse 35, the text abruptly shifts to
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  highlight the unknown day and hour.
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  Jesus goes from detailing very specific, visible, undeniable
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  signs in the heavens and on earth to suddenly declaring that
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  no one knows the day or the hour of his return.
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  Not the angels, not even the sun during his Earthling ministry,
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  but only the Father. Precisely.
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  Wait, I have to push back here. So what does this all mean?
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  Go ahead. If we are given all these
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  massive visible signs in the first half of the chapter,
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  darkened Suns, falling stars, people fleeing to the mountains,
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  how do we reconcile that with the sudden, unknowable hour
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  mentioned right afterward? It feels like a massive
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  contradiction to a lot of people.
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  On one hand Jesus says look at the signs so you know when I am
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  coming, and on the other hand he says my coming will be a total
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  surprise, like a thief in the night.
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  How did the authors of these texts resolve that?
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  It is a great question, and it is where many people get tripped
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  up. The sources resolve this tension
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  by clarifying the crucial distinction between knowing the
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  season and knowing the date. OK.
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  The season versus the date. Think about winter.
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  You do not know the precise minute the first snowslake will
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  hit your driveway in December, but when the temperature drops,
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  the trees lose their leaves and the frost appears in the
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  morning, you know the season of winter is imminent.
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  OK, so the signs give us the season, but the exact hour
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  remains locked. Spot on.
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  The literary structure of the passage moves deliberately to
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  make this point. It starts with observation,
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  which is botany looking at the fig tree.
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  Then it moves to application which is eschatology recognizing
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  the signs. From there, it establishes A
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  temporal limit regarding a specific generation.
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  Finally, it lands on an absolute foundation, the permanence of
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  Christ's words. The authors of the text argue
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  that isolating this passage from either the preceding signs or
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  the subsequent warnings leads to theological disaster.
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  Yes, if you isolate the fig tree from the tribulation versus you
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  might ignore the climax of Christ riding on the clouds in
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  global visible glory. On the flip side, if you ignore
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  the unknown hour warnings, you become a fanatic trying to
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  calculate a specific calendar date.
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  Which Jesus, this explicitly forbids.
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  We have all seen people try to do that.
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  It never ends well. Let us get into the actual
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  botany of the end times. This is the exegesis of verses
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  32 and 33. I will read the illustration
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  from the text. Please do.
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  Jesus commands the disciples to look at the fig tree.
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  He says from the fig tree, learn its lesson.
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  As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves,
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  you know that summer is near. It is such a quiet, almost
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  pastoral image right after he just described the sun going
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  dark and stars falling from the sky.
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  It really is. It feels like taking a deep
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  breath after a Sprint. It is a striking contrast, and
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  the Greek syntax here is very revealing.
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  The sources breakdown the Greek imperative verb used here.
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  Math Eat, which translates to learn Mathit.
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  Got it. The texts point out that this is
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  not a suggestion. It is an active imperative.
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  It is a command for decisive comprehension.
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  Jesus is essentially saying you must master this concept.
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  Do not just look at the tree, study it and grasp the
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  underlying principle. Yes, he demands their full
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  attention on this specific mechanism.
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  Why a fig tree though? Why not an olive tree or a
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  cedar? In Palestine, the agricultural
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  cycle of the fig tree was a universally understood, reliable
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  indicator of the seasons. Because a lot of trees there are
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  Evergreen. Right, exactly.
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  Many trees in the region were Evergreen, so their appearance
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  did not change drastically. But the fig tree loses its
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  leaves in the winter. I see when the SAP flows in the
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  branches in late spring, making them tender, and the leaves
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  finally appear. The hot season is inescapably
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  close. The illustration operates on a
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  simple cause and effect temporal marker.
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  You see A and therefore you know B is arriving.
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  There is no guessing involved when the leaves are out.
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  Summer is not a possibility, it is a certainty.
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  And the link to the tribulation comes in the very next verse,
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  Jesus says in verse 33. So also when you see all these
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  things, you know that He is near at the very gates.
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  That is the crucial connection. I want to highlight that phrase.
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  When you see all these things, he is tethering the tree right
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  back to the horrors he just listed.
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  If we connect this to the bigger picture, the sources point
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  directly to the Greek phrase pantatata, which translates to
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  all these things. Pantatata.
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  The repetition of this phrase is the key to unlocking the
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  passage. It strictly tethers the fig tree
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  analogy back to the specific terrors of verses 15 through 31.
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  The darkening of the sun, the abominations standing in the
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  holy place, the global judgments.
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  Jesus is saying that when those specific terrors commence, the
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  observer must know that the King is at the very gates.
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  It is an idiom for immediate impending arrival.
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  The king is on the threshold, hand on the doorknob.
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  That is a great image. The sources take a massive
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  theological swing here. They note that this simple
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  analogy of the fig tree completely destroys a concept
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  called post millennialism. It is a major blow to that
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  system. Let us explain that for our
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  listeners. Post millennialism is the
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  optimistic idea that the world will gradually Christianize
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  overtime. The theory goes that through the
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  preaching of the Gospel and the influence of the Church, the
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  world will slowly get better and better.
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  It will eventually create a golden age, a global utopia of
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  peace and righteousness, and then Jesus will return to a
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  mostly perfected world. The text you provided argue that
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  this passage shatters that entire framework.
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  The texts are quite firm on that point.
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  They argue that instead of a gradual upward progression into
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  a utopian society, the text guarantees A cataclysmic climax.
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  Think of the post millennial view like a leaky boat.
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  OK, I am listening. The assumption is that if we
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  just keep baling water and patching holes, eventually this
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  boat will turn into a pristine luxury cruise ship.
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  But Jesus is saying the boat is going to face a hurricane unlike
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  anything in human history. Spot on.
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  The signs that indicate the nearness of the end are not
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  signs of global peace, economic stability, and widespread
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  institutional righteousness. They're signs of unparalleled
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  tribulation, widespread deception, and massive cosmic
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  disturbance. So the fig tree's leaves
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  actually represent the horrors of the tribulation.
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  When you see the world shaking, the Antichrist rising, the
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  heavens darkening, that is the SAP rising in the branches that
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  guarantees the physical return of Christ is imminent.
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  Correct, the signs are negative, but the outcome they point to,
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  the return of the king, is the ultimate positive for the
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  believer. Here's where it gets really
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  interesting and honestly highly controversial.
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  We are moving to the exegesis of verse 34.
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  This is a massive battleground text.
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  This is arguably the most debated verse in the entire
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  Olivet discourse. Jesus says truly, I say to you,
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  this generation will not pass away until all these things take
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  place. Critics of Christianity have had
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  a field day with this verse for centuries.
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  Skeptics use this exact sentence to call Jesus a false prophet.
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  They look at the text and say, look, Jesus told the people
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  standing right in front of him that their generation would not
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  die out before the end of the world.
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  They all died. The world is still here.
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  Therefore, he failed. The sources tackle this
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  skeptical argument head on. First they unpack the
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  introduction directory formula Jesus uses here.
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  What is the Greek phrase for that?
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  It is Amen, Lego Hymen, which translates to truly I say to
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  you, the texts argue this phrase indicates absolute divine
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  veracity. Jesus is staking his divine
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  authority on the truth of this statement.
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  He is not making an educated guess, He's making a decree.
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  Right. So the stakes are incredibly
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  high. If he is wrong, the whole
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  foundation crumbles completely. The debate then hinges entirely
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  on the Greek noun Genia, which means generation.
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  The source is firmly only reject what is called the preterist
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  view. Let us define that Preterism is
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  the theological belief that most, if not all biblical
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  prophecy was already fulfilled in the past.
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  Specifically, they argue that this generation refers
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  exclusively to the contemporaries of Jesus.
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  They believe the prophecy was entirely fulfilled in 8070 when
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  the Roman army under Titus besieged and destroyed Jerusalem
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  and the Temple. To use a movie analogy,
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  preterism is like walking into a theater, watching the opening
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  credits roll and believing the entire movie is already.
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  That makes a lot of sense. The texts argue this cannot
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  possibly be the case. Why?
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  Because the specific events Jesus described did not happen
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  in 8070. The sun did not literally go
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  dark. The stars did not fall from the
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  sky. And most importantly, we did not
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  see the global visible return of the Son of Man coming on the
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  clouds to gather his elect from the four winds.
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  Right. The author's point out that if
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  you force the word generation to mean the people standing there
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  8033, you are forced to completely spiritualize the
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  physical return of Christ to make the timeline fit.
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  You have to say, well, Jesus returns spiritually in judgment
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  through the Roman army. But that ruins the concrete,
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  literal nature of the promises we talked about earlier.
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  OK, I have to play devil's advocate here.
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  Go for it. I'm looking at this text and I
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  hear the dispensational solution that our sources present.
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  They argue that this generation refers to a future generation,
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  the specific generation of people alive when the
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  tribulation begins. Yes, that is their stance.
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  They say once the specific events of the tribulation
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  commence, that specific generation will not pass away
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  before the events conclude. Honestly, doesn't that sound
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  like a convenient loophole? I can see why someone would
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  think that it. Sounds like we are changing the
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  definition of generation to fit our modern timeline.
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  Because the 1st century application did not work out.
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  How does the text actually justify jumping thousands of
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  years into the future? That is a very fair critique,
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  and it is a question every serious student of this text
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  must ask. The sources defend this
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  interpretation by looking at the context of the pronoun this.
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  The word this OK. When Jesus says this generation,
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  he is referring back to the people who see the signs he just
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  described or the phrase pantatata, all these things.
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  Right when you see all these. Things Jesus says when you see
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  all these things. The generation that sees the
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  abomination of desolation, the darkening of the sun, the cosmic
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  signs, that is the generation in question.
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  Since the disciples did not see all those things, the
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  fulfillment must belong to the future group of people who do.
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  Precisely. And the authors tie this back to
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  the framework of Daniel's 70th week.
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  The time frame of the tribulation is restricted to a
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  very specific seven-year period. The theological point Jesus is
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  making is that God sets a hard boundary on evil.
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  He will not allow the suffering of the tribulation to drag on
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  indefinitely for decades or centuries.
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  Once the final sequence begins, it will wrap up within the
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  lifespan of the people alive at that time.
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  It is actually a massive provision of grace within the
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  context of severe judgment, the text earlier says.
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  The days are cut short to preserve a remnant of humanity.
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  If God did not cap the timeline, no flesh would survive.
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  That is exactly the point that. Shifts the reading completely.
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  It is not a failed prediction saying Peter, James and John,
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  you won't die before I return. It is a guarantee about the
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  speed of the final act. It is saying the group of people
• 19:55
  alive when the final sequence starts, we'll see it finish.
• 19:58
  It will be rapid, it will be decisive.
• 20:01
  That brings us to the cosmic anchor of the entire discourse,
• 20:04
  which is the exegesis of verse 35.
• 20:06
  This is the absolute climax of the passage.
• 20:09
  Jesus says heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not
• 20:13
  pass away. The weight of that sentence is
• 20:15
  just wild. I want to offer a thought
• 20:17
  experiment for you. Listening right now.
• 20:19
  Look around you wherever you are.
• 20:21
  Think about the skyline in your city.
• 20:23
  Think about the massive mountain ranges in the distance.
• 20:26
  Think about the very stars you see at night.
• 20:28
  Our human minds are hardwired to register these physical elements
• 20:32
  as permanent. We build our entire sense of
• 20:34
  stability, our economy, our architecture on the fact that
• 20:37
  the ground will be there tomorrow.
• 20:39
  Yet Jesus places his spoken breath above the physical
• 20:42
  cosmos. He looks at the vast, terrifying
• 20:45
  expanse of the universe and says temporary.
• 20:48
  He looks at his own spoken words and says eternal.
• 20:51
  The grammatical contrast used in the coin Greek to communicate
• 20:54
  this concept is staggering. The texts breakdown the syntax
• 20:58
  meticulously to show just how heavy this statement is.
• 21:02
  First you have the future indicative verb paralusitai.
• 21:06
  Paralusitai. Which translates to will pass
• 21:09
  away. This is applied to the physical
• 21:11
  universe. It denotes A definite future
• 21:14
  event. Then you have this strong
• 21:16
  adversity of conjunction day, which means.
• 21:19
  But this little word sets up an absolute immovable contrast.
• 21:22
  The pivot point, yes. And finally, you have the
• 21:26
  emphatic double negative Almay applied to Christ's words.
• 21:30
  Now we need to explain how this works in Greek, because it is
• 21:33
  different from English. Right, we should clarify.
• 21:35
  That in English if you use a double negative like I don't
• 21:38
  have no money, the negatives cancel each other out to create
• 21:41
  a positive. You actually mean you do have
• 21:43
  money? But in coin Greek, stacking
• 21:45
  negatives does not cancel them out, it multiplies.
• 21:48
  Therefore, it is a multiplying effect of absolute denial.
• 21:52
  It is like saying ain't no way, no how, never going to happen.
• 21:56
  Spot on. It is the strongest possible way
• 21:58
  in that language to deny a future contingency.
• 22:00
  It means never, by no means, under no circumstances.
• 22:03
  The physical universe, with all its stars and mountains is
• 22:07
  mutable and subject to decay. It has an expiration date.
• 22:11
  But his spoken words are entirely immutable.
• 22:14
  They cannot decay. They cannot fail.
• 22:16
  This raises an important question, and honestly, it is.
• 22:19
  It's the core theological crisis of the text for anyone who
• 22:22
  denies the divinity of Christ. It really forces the issue.
• 22:25
  How can a mere human guarantee the permanence of his speech
• 22:29
  beyond the dissolution of the universe?
• 22:30
  It is impossible. If I sit down next to you at a
• 22:33
  coffee shop and tell you with total sincerity that my words
• 22:36
  will outlast the sun, you should probably take my car keys and
• 22:40
  call a medical professional. I definitely would.
• 22:42
  It is the statement of a lunatic.
• 22:44
  Right. The claim is either insane or it
• 22:47
  is divine. The answer from the sources is
• 22:49
  clear and uncompromising. Jesus is assuming the attributes
• 22:53
  of Yahweh. The texts draw a direct,
• 22:56
  undeniable line back to the Old Testament.
• 22:58
  They specifically point to Isaiah 40 verse 8 which says the
• 23:01
  grass Withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will
• 23:05
  stand forever. That is a massive connection.
• 23:08
  Any 1st century Jewish person would know that verse from
• 23:11
  Isaiah. They would know that only God's
• 23:12
  Word is eternal. Yes, by applying this precise
• 23:16
  divine attribute to his own spoken decrees, Jesus is making
• 23:20
  an undeniable claim to deity. He is not just a good teacher.
• 23:25
  He is not just a prophet pointing to God's Word.
• 23:27
  He is claiming that his words are God's words.
• 23:30
  He is the Word made flesh. A creature, no matter how
• 23:33
  elevated, cannot guarantee the endurance of his speech after
• 23:36
  the cosmos is dissolved. Only the Creator, the one who
• 23:39
  spoke the universe into existence in Genesis, can make
• 23:42
  that claim. OK, we have covered a massive
• 23:44
  amount of theology, psychological and linguistic
• 23:46
  ground. We've talked about the AD 33
• 23:48
  context, the Greek grammar, the different millennial views, and
• 23:53
  the claims to deity. But we have to pivot to the
• 23:55
  application for you today. In a shifting world, how do
• 23:58
  these heavy theological realities dictate daily life?
• 24:01
  We aren't just analyzing ancient coin Greek for the sake of an
• 24:04
  academic exercise. The sources are highly practical
• 24:08
  when it comes to application. They synthesize the textual
• 24:11
  warnings to rebuke several modern errors we see in the
• 24:14
  Church today. First, they specifically call
• 24:17
  out modern evangelical pragmatism.
• 24:20
  Let us define that. What does pragmatism look like
• 24:23
  in this context? Pragmatism is the belief that
• 24:26
  whatever works to get people into the building is what we
• 24:30
  should do. I.
• 24:31
  See it? Prioritizes sociological trends,
• 24:34
  marketing, and cultural relevance over biblical prophecy
• 24:37
  and hard truths. The texts argue that if history
• 24:41
  is barreling toward the massive judgments described in Matthew
• 24:43
  24, then trying to build a church based on superficial
• 24:47
  cultural trends is completely missing the mark.
• 24:50
  It is missing what the church is called to be.
• 24:51
  They also warn against mysticism.
• 24:53
  This is the constant craving for new voices, new prophecies, and
• 24:57
  new revelations. People are always looking for a
• 24:59
  fresh word from God. The authors of the texts argue
• 25:02
  that this passage actually condemns that craving.
• 25:04
  Why? Because the Canon of Scripture
• 25:06
  is closed and Christ's words are completely efficient.
• 25:09
  If his words will never pass away, we do not need anyone
• 25:13
  claiming to update his teaching with a new vision they had in
• 25:17
  their living room. The sources also aim a critique
• 25:20
  at seeker sensitive moralism. All right, let's talk about
• 25:22
  that. This is a style of teaching that
• 25:24
  actively avoids the terrifying realities of judgment, wrath,
• 25:28
  and tribulation to keep people comfortable in the pews.
• 25:31
  It reduces Christianity to a self help program, five steps to
• 25:35
  a better marriage, or how to manage your finances.
• 25:39
  Those are fine topics, but if you ignore the reality that the
• 25:42
  physical universe is going to be rolled up like a scroll, you are
• 25:45
  doing a massive disservice to your listeners.
• 25:48
  I want to drive home the practical reality of detaching
• 25:50
  from worldly idols. This is where the rubber meets
• 25:53
  the road for me. Go ahead.
• 25:54
  If we actually believe what verse 35 says, that the earth
• 25:57
  will literally pass away, then building a life entirely on
• 26:01
  political power, wealth, or cultural approval is absolute
• 26:05
  madness. It is the classic analogy of
• 26:07
  polishing the brass on a sinking ship.
• 26:09
  Why hoard earthly treasures? Why obsess over your status when
• 26:13
  the very fabric of the Earth is guaranteed to pass away?
• 26:16
  We spend so much time stressing about things that have a 100%
• 26:19
  mortality rate. The texts detail how this
• 26:22
  passage functions completely differently depending on the
• 26:24
  status of the listener. For the unregenerate, the
• 26:27
  unbeliever, the impending judgment is a terrifying,
• 26:31
  inescapable historical reality. Now the authors of your sources
• 26:35
  take a very hard line here. They argue that this text
• 26:38
  dismantles any safety found in false religion or works based
• 26:42
  system. They point specifically to
• 26:44
  systems like Roman Catholicism or Arminianism.
• 26:47
  And to be clear, we are summarizing the position of the
• 26:50
  authors here for those who might not know what is the core of
• 26:54
  their critique against those specific systems in light of
• 26:56
  this passage. The authors argue that systems
• 26:58
  relying on Sacramento works human merit or human free will,
• 27:02
  exertion, what we call synergism, cannot save someone
• 27:05
  from the wrath to come. The premise is that the sheer
• 27:07
  scale of the cosmic judgement described by Jesus requires a
• 27:11
  salvation that is entirely an act of sovereign grace.
• 27:14
  The judgement is too massive for any human effort to deflect.
• 27:18
  According to the sources, the only refuge is the finished work
• 27:21
  of Christ. And for the believer, this text
• 27:24
  flips from a warning to a massive source of comfort.
• 27:27
  It really is an anchor. If you are trusting in Christ,
• 27:31
  affliction, cultural hostility and global upheaval are not
• 27:34
  signs that God has lost control of the steering wheel.
• 27:37
  We look at the news today and see wars, rumors of wars,
• 27:40
  political corruption and societal decay.
• 27:43
  It is easy to panic. But this text says, On the
• 27:46
  contrary, these are signs that the timeline is proceeding
• 27:49
  exactly as decreed by the sovereign of history.
• 27:52
  The script is written, the director is on stage.
• 27:55
  It forces a perspective shift. The decay of the present world
• 27:59
  is not the failure of God's plan.
• 28:02
  It is the prerequisite for the establishment of His permanent
• 28:05
  Kingdom. Let us concisely recap the
• 28:07
  progression we have tracked today.
• 28:09
  We started with a simple botanical observation of a fig
• 28:12
  tree in the Levant. A mundane detail about SAP and
• 28:15
  leaves. From there, we moved to a
• 28:16
  precise prophetic timeline regarding a future generation
• 28:20
  and a seven-year tribulation. We debunked the idea that things
• 28:23
  will just magically get better on their own.
• 28:25
  Finally, we rested firmly on the absolute divine authority of the
• 28:29
  Son of God, whose words outlast the cosmos itself.
• 28:33
  The progression is highly logical.
• 28:35
  It moves from earthly shadows to eternal realities.
• 28:38
  It compels the listener to evaluate their own foundation.
• 28:42
  Are you building on the mutable earth or the immutable word?
• 28:46
  I want to leave you with a final concept to Mull over on your
• 28:48
  own. It revolves around that phrase
• 28:51
  from verse 33 at the doors. We talked about the king
• 28:55
  standing on the threshold. If the King of Kings is standing
• 28:58
  at the threshold of universe that is physically passing away,
• 29:01
  what if the decay we witness all around us, the political
• 29:04
  corruption, the cultural hostility, the physical
• 29:06
  breakdown of our own bodies, isn't the victory of darkness at
• 29:09
  all? What if it is merely the
• 29:11
  collapsing of the old stage to make way for a Kingdom that
• 29:14
  cannot be shaken? Think about that as you watch
• 29:16
  the news this week. The door is already opening from
• 29:19
  the other side.